On my bike by the Lee

THIS is how cycling should be.

Gliding along a surface as smooth as a baby’s bottom, I’m passing from Rochestown to Passage West in Cork without a care in the world.

The sun is shining. Blue skies and fluffy clouds are reflecting off the estuary. Floating along the route of an old railway line, there is no traffic to contend with. The path is wide and straight. It is dotted with benches, cloaked in greenery. By the time I reach Passage, I’m almost emotional. It’s like cycling outside of Vancouver or Copenhagen.

It’s also the complete opposite of cycling in Cork city. That’s where my adventure started, a few hours previously. Setting out from Hayfield Manor near UCC, which recently launched a cycling package bundling two nights’ B&B with dinner, bike hire and a picnic, I proceeded to get fitted out at the Bike Shed.

Gerry Cunneen greets me at the Barrack Street shop. He’s a man that clearly lives and breathes bikes — talking about them as tenderly as you would pets; hands and cargo pants running black with oil and grease. He kits me out with a hybrid bike, helmet and puncture repair kit. It’s all quick and easy. Any tips for cycling in Cork, I ask?

“Hand signals,” he laughs. “And plenty of them.”

That’s good advice in any city, but as I’m about to find out, Cork isn’t any city. Cycle lanes are scarce, seem to begin and end randomly, and regularly converge with busy bus lanes. And that’s in addition to the confusing one-way streets and branches of the River Lee. I’m a confident cyclist, but I’m spending more time on Google Maps than on the move.

“Excuse me, are you looking for the fort?”

I spin around. An older gentleman approaches, beaming out amiably from beneath a twiggy beard, military bush hat and Vampire: The Masquerade T-shirt.

“Erm, no.” I say. “Fitzgerald’s Park.”

“You’ve a funny way of getting there,” he grins.

We get chatting — about his time spent working in the local brewery, about the way things have changed. “Cork is a rebellious city,” he winks, directing me down Barrack Street, across the south channel and the wrong way up South Main Street.

“It’s one-way. But sure you’re only a bicyclist.”

Eventually, I make it to Fitzgerald’s Park. It’s a short enough spin along Washington Street and the Mardyke (albeit one devoid of cycle lanes), and I enjoy pedalling past the roses and over Daly’s Bridge in the absence of traffic. A fish jumps; a heron preens. Apart from a BMX lying forlornly on the riverbed, it’s a lovely little lung of green space, and I feel terribly smug and healthy. How many car drivers crossed the Shaky Bridge today? That’s right. None. So the baby steps are over. It’s time for the real cycling now — roughly a 20km stretch from Fitzgerald’s Park to Cobh. I hit Twitter for tips. “Spending the day cycling in Cork city (and beyond),” I tweet. “Any tips for a tourist on two wheels?”

Several helpful suggestions for bars, cafes, galleries and pubs come trickling in. But the actual cycling advice reads like I’m about to play rollerball.

“Be very careful,” says one.

“Cycle like you own the road,” advises another. “Fight dirty.”

“Don’t go to Blackrock Castle via the Marina unless you want a broken bike and body,” cautions a third. “Roads are mental.”

Oh dear. That’s pretty much exactly my route. And while it’s nothing compared to running the gauntlet of Grand Parade (I’m looking at you, driver of the white 04 Golf), the marina does deliver some prolonged bone-rattling. I’m glad the saddle is padded.

It’s only leaving the city that I begin to relax. I’m sure lots of work has gone into making cycling safer in Cork city in recent years, and the city council evidently has a strategy in place (a public bike sharing scheme is about to be announced) — but, in all honesty, could you recommend it to older tourists or families as things stand?

Dublin, by contrast, rates as one of the world’s top 10 bike-friendly cities. Yes, you read that right. While Amsterdam and Copenhagen topped the 2013 Copenhagenize Index of bicycle-friendly cities, Dublin ranked ninth.

Its Dublin Bikes scheme, 120km of cycle lanes and city cycling tours have all given it mojo and momentum.

Couldn’t Cork follow suit? I see no reason why not. The city is compact, surprisingly flat in places, and cycling could be a great way to experience set-pieces like the quays, Fitzgerald’s Park or the South Mall. There’s surely demand, too. Once I join the traffic-free path after Blackrock Castle, walkers, cyclists and buggy-pushers appear in their droves.

This coastal stretch is an absolute peach. The castle is regal, the sky sublime, the birds dipping pencil-shaped beaks into the murk. I can hear traffic on the N40, but now it’s a reminder of what I’m gaining by being on a bike, rather than what I stand to lose when a cycle lane ends without warning.

If you build it, I’m thinking, they will come.

It’s a cliché, but isn’t it true? Cork County Council developed the greenway linking the castle with Rochestown and Passage with a Smarter Travel Grant from the Dept of Transport. Add the dedicated route from Crosshaven to Carrigaline, and the proposed 8km link between the two, and you could end up with a western harbour route right up there with stretches of Mayo’s ground-breaking Great Western Greenway.

Cork County Council also has other greenways projects afoot, which could reinvigorate old railway lines from Bandon to Kinsale, and Ballinascarthy to Courtmacsherry.

Zipping along the Passage West and Monkstown Railway Trail, I even pass an outdoor fitness zone where curious walkers try out exercise machines such as the ‘Twister’, ‘Air Walker’, ‘Cross-Trainer’ and ‘Shoulder-Builder’. It’s a surreal sight to take me towards the end of the cycleway at Passage, and the queue for the ferry to Great Island.

Amazingly, foot and bike passengers pay just €1 for the crossing.

“Or €1.50 return,” the ferryman informs me.

I wonder whether he’s seeing many cyclists these days.

“Oh yeah,” he says. “Big lots now, boy. Big numbers.”

The ferry docks after a brief, two-minute journey. I push the bike up the ramp and cycle the remaining 3.5km to Cobh. Locking up outside the Heritage Centre, I sit by the statue of Annie Moore, and tuck into Hayfield Manor’s picnic. Hearty sandwiches, Irish cheeses and lashings of other goodies are wolfed down overlooking the water.

All that remains is the return journey.

* Bikes are available for short and long-term hire from the Bike Shed, just behind Nancy Spain’s on Barrack Street. Rental costs from €15 a day, with helmet and puncture repair kit included. Contact 086-6028228 or [e-mail].

* Hayfield Manor’s ‘Cycle Cork City & County’ package bundles two nights B&B with one day’s bike hire, a picnic lunch, dinner on an evening of your choice and a complimentary drink after your cycle from €289pps. See hayfieldmanor.ie.

* If the return journey from Cobh seems too long or daunting, you can always take the train back to Kent Station. Trains take 24 minutes and carry bikes. See irishrail.ie